…because each step forward is one step closer

…and five more inches tonight

Mostly it has just snowed and snowed! Three inches here, 6 inches there, and it continues to pile up. Unfortunately, our tractor which hubby is always in charge of fixing has run into a problem even he can’t fix. It was sadly loaded up on a trailer and hauled away for repairs. That was three snow storms ago. That leaves us down to one vehicle, because only the truck will make it in and out of the driveway, without the tractor being able to plow us out! Tonight another 5 inches are coming, we are crossing our fingers that the tractor will be fixed soon. Tomorrow is supposed to be a delivery day, and of course the snow will be fresh in time to hit the road, I might combine errands and deliveries with hubby tomorrow, he loves the challenge of fresh snow, in true man fashion.

I have been continuing my game of what not to buy at the store anymore. So far my newest discovery is pretzels. The other night we were snacking on the last of a bag of pretzels and hubby asked if I would pick up more at the store next time. Well that prompted an immediate smart phone search, hmm how to make pretzels. I found a recipe from a cook I know of, and generally has pretty tried and true recipes. I thought I would give it a try. Then I saw another recipe which turned out to be the recipe I found, with some improvements, this one boiled the pretzels in a good IPA beer. Hubby loves IPA’s so much that if a bar doesn’t have a good IPA he will actually order water! No other beers will do! So I made this recipe which really was quite easy! We like the crunchy hard pretzel nuggets, so that’s is what I made. They turned out pretty darn good.

Today I am going to town and will get some Masa Corn (Harina de Maiz) flour and try my hand at Tortillas, which of course leads to not only homemade tortillas but also homemade corn chips! Two more things to take off the shopping list. You do need a press, unless you have a hidden talent for making tortillas by hand. I looked on ebay at antique ones to get ideas for how to make one and then just as I had come up with a super easy design to go over with Hubby, he said “wait a minute” and came back with this amazing looking cast iron press he had in the basement. I have no idea what it was intended for but I am going to try using it as a Tortilla press. He cut me two squares of wood to press them between and then I will put parchment between the wood and the dough and then hopefully it will press very nicely! I am looking forward to trying this!! I have been invited to a “not super bowl party” at a friends house, yea you guessed it, I am not a big football fan. I am hoping to bring these corn chips and some pico de gallo. I got the recipe for the pico de gallo from a work colleague who moved here from Mexico at fifteen. She always made the best food for work potlucks, it was a down side of leaving my other job:(

We met last week with our Chicken friend. She gave us lots of knowledge and ideas to think about for our Spring Chickens! Totally looking forward to all Spring has to hold for us. She gave us new ideas and changed some of our old ideas. We thought we were going to be discussing the old goat yard with her for the chickens but we had a change on that one. When Fish and Wildlife were out here working on our project in the woods, one of them told us about his pigs that he has. They are Black Heritage pigs. As we started inquiring about his prices for his slow raised pork, he showed us how our old goat yard (that we thought was our future chicken yard), would be perfect for two pigs with little to no changes in fencing. So why buy pork when you you have a perfect pig pen? Of course pigs get lonely if they don’t have a pal, so we will get two piglets, come May. We will go out to their farm and see what their operation is like before we purchase said pigs, and yes I know they are cute and yes I am aware that often they are affectionate with their people, it’s ok, I will have the same affection for them, without doubt. I also can’t forget what I am doing here. I am raising healthy clean food for us, in the process I will (here’s my mantra) enjoy giving each animal a happy pasture, back scratches, a shady tree and outdated granola for treats! (My first batch in the new kitchen way back when was too sticky, thus the lucky pigs and cows!)

Lastly, my newest “step” this week was my first chainsaw lesson! It was not as hard as I thought, and I quickly realized the skill is more in knowing how the wood will react when you cut it, then knowing how to actually cut through it. The picture below shows my homework for this week….

Now I am off to the store, haven’t been there is a while, hopefully I will be buying, very little!